Police canvas Southside area, woman missing since Thursday

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) –The mysterious disappearance of the 41-year-old Chesterfield woman has become a concern to many in the Southside Roxshire Community.

“The house is the white one through the woods,” said neighbor Kim Benson as she points beyond a wooded path.

From Benson’s back porch the now empty home of Leyla Namiranian is just barely visible.

Police cars began surrounding the home last Thursday.

“She worked long hours so we didn’t see her in the neighborhood much,” said Benson, “to find out she had gone missing the next day was shocking.”

Several nearby neighbors recall that Namiranian kept to herself.

In fact most say they hardly ever saw her coming and going and that she didn’t socialize much in the community. Neighbors claim she moved in five years ago with her husband but that for the past several months she’s lived alone.

“I greeted them as new neighbors, met them then and have not really seen them since,” said Benson.

Safety doesn’t seem to be a big concern for those nearby. They tend to think whatever has happened is an isolated incident.

“It seemed to be someone she knew because there was no evidence of a break in,” said Benson.

But that’s not discouraging Chesterfield police from looking for other clues. Several neighbors claimed the police have had a presence all weekend at the home.

“They were canvassing the neighborhood and talking to neighbors to see if we had noticed anything,” said Benson.